The Ballestero Blog

Everyone Deserves To Be Loved!

I grew up knowing nothing but the blessing of a loving family. Sure we were poor! We lived below the poverty level for years. It didn’t feel like we were poor, because of the warmth of love from family and friends. Not everyone in this world is so fortunate. Not everyone knows how it feels to be loved all your life.

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Unwanted Children

UNICEF defines an abandoned child as one who:

• Does not know where his or her next meal is coming from.
• Does not know where he or she is spending the night.
• He or she does not live with either the mother or the father.

While defining a problem is helpful, no definition illustrates the plight of abandoned children as clearly as the following set of statistics:

• Every 2 seconds, a child becomes an orphan.

Nearly 60,000 children are reported to be abused or neglected each week in America, with an estimated 900,000 confirmations of violence every year. When these children are dumped into foster care, they too often lose not only their childhood, but their dreams, and their futures.

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• 40,000 new infants are placed in foster care each year
• 25 percent of the individuals who end up in prison spent time in foster care
• 30 percent of all people who are homeless spent time in Foster Care
• The average number of home placements per child is three
• Girls in foster care are six times more likely to give birth before the age of 21
• 50 percent of foster youth are unemployed four years after leaving foster care
• 37 percent – 48 percent of foster children don’t finish high school
• Only 7 percent of foster children attend a four-year college
• Only 1 percent of foster children graduate from a four-year college

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-moulene/americas-abandoned-childr_b_867265.html

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Abused Children

2011 CHILDREN’S ADVOCACY CENTER STATISTICS (January through June) 3

Among the over 141,000 children served by Children’s Advocacy Centers around the country from January through June 2011, some startling statistics include:

• 53,932 children were ages 0 to 6 years
• 51,196 children were ages 7 to 12 years
• 36,131 children were ages 13 to 18 years
• 95,120 children reported sexual abuse
• 25,414 children reported physical abuse
• 88,312 children participated in forensic interviewing at a Children’s Advocacy Center

Among the over 116,000 alleged offenders investigated for instances of child abuse from January through June 2011, some startling statistics include:

• 75,829 were 18+ years old
• 11,973 were ages 13 to 17 years
• 7,911 were under age 13 years
• 45,496 were a parent or step-parent of the victim
• 23,763 were related to the child victim in another way
• 36,628 were an unrelated person the victim knew

http://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/NCANationalStatistics

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Parents Selling Babies

News reporters tell of parents selling babies on the black market. We only know about the ones that got caught.

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Battered Wives

One in four women (25%) has experienced domestic violence in her lifetime.

Between 600,000 and 6 million women are victims of domestic violence each year, and between 100,000 and 6 million men, depending on the type of survey used to obtain the data.

Separated and divorced males and females are at a greater risk of nonfatal intimate partner violence.

On average, more than three women and one man are murdered by their intimate partners in this country every day.

http://www.dvrc-or.org/domestic/violence/resources/C61/

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Infidelity Statistics

Too many spouses feel the pain of rejection. Below are compiled statistics on infidelity and marriage:

• Percentage of marriages that end in divorce in America: 53%
• Percentage of men who admit to committing infidelity in any relationship they’ve had: 57%
• Percentage of women who admit to committing infidelity in any relationship they’ve had: 54%
• Percentage of men who say they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught: 74%
• Percentage of women who say they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught: 68%

http://infidelityfacts.com/infidelity-statistics.html

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1639 Buried In A Mass Grave This Month

I have grieved all week for the unclaimed bodies that were recently buried in a mass grave. No one claimed them. Most were never missed. Others, family members knew they died, but decided to let the county bury them.

• The annual mass burial in LA has been a December custom since 1896.
• The remains of 1,639 people were buried this year.
• The coroner’s office says bodies of those never claimed are kept in storage for two to three years before being sent to the common grave.
• There currently are 5,199 people on the coroner’s unclaimed persons list.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/12/08/state/n061159S93.DTL#ixzz1gBZ3COgt

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Holiday Suicides

The overwhelming feeling of loneliness, weighs heavy. For some, it is too much to endure. (Note: suicide should never an option.)

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All these facts are stark indicators to me of a world without love. True love.

The Most Beautiful Love Anyone Could Ever Experience, Is The Love Of God.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus Really Loves You!

1. Let Him be your Comforter

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

2. Let Him Be That Friend That Sticketh Closer Than A Brother.

Proverbs 18:24 …there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.

3. He Loved Us First! Even, While We Were Sinners.

1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.

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There is a precious old song that still brings tears to my eyes. It’s called, “No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus.”

“No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus”

Words and Music by C.F. Weigle

I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus,
Since I found in Him a friend so strong and true;
I would tell you how He changed my life completely,
He did something that no other friend could do.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me,
All my heart was full of misery and woe;
Jesus placed His strong and loving arms about me,
And He led me in the way I ought to go.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

Ev’ry day He comes to me with new assurance,
More and more I understand His words of love;
But I’ll never know just why He came to save me,
Till some day I see His blessed face above.

No one ever cared for me like Jesus,
There’s no other friend so kind as He;
No one else could take the sin and darkness from me,
O how much He cared for me.

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He Loves You, Even When No One Else Does.

• He’s Been Waiting A Long Time For You To Love Him Back.
• His Love Is Unconditional.
  
• His Love Never Ends!
  

Everyone Deserves To Be Loved. That’s How God Thinks!